The Nazarene Scene
On the road this morning, our faithful guide, Fardi (no ‘t’ required) taught us a few Hebrew words. There was ‘shalom’ for peace, ‘tada’ for thank you and ‘boker tov’ for good morning. He said we could greet people good morning with a very speedy “broken toe” and they’d be none the wiser, probably complimenting us on our proficiency in their native tongue. So chuffed with my new vocabulary, I was “broken- toe-ing” my way around Israel all morning.
First on our itinerary today was a visit to Mary Magdalene’s village of Magdala. She is literally Mary of Magdala (Magdalene) You learn something every day. The site was an excavation of the synagogue at Magdala, which was only discovered in 2009. Imagine all the treasures that are still laying dormant under Israel. In Australia, the most exciting thing you could uncover when digging, would be a gas or water pipe but here in the Holy Land, you could be digging a hole in your garden and accidentally unearth an entire village. It puts a whole new slant on ‘dial before you dig’.
Archaeologists uncovered the ruins of the synagogue at Magdala and found a carved stone table, with beautiful and intact carvings of things that would have been found in the temple - a little portal back in time. Aptly named the “Magdala stone”, it was probably used to read scrolls of scripture back in the day and it’s highly likely the Son of God himself would have warmed a pew in this little Jewish church.
Ancient Nazareth was only a tiny country town with a population of only around 300. We have more kids in our local primary school. Jesus really did put this little backwater on the map.
There is a stunning new church at Magdala, with little colourful chapels off the main room, where we saw a nun praying in full habit and met an Irish priest with a great sense of humour. The stunning, big room downstairs, complete with giant mural of the bleeding woman touching Jesus’ cloak, had a rugged stony floor and mood lighting the judges on the Block would’ve raved about.
In case we hadn’t already had our fill of incredible ancient excavation sites (there’s no such thing as too many), we took a short bus ride to find a treasure trove of all things old and impressive: Sepphoris. This place has a history not to be sneezed at, with artefacts and remains from ancient Jewish, Hellenistic, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman cultures. Wow, talk about spoilt for choice.
The stone pavement still displays deep chariot grooves and we all loved ye olde flooring warehouse - literally a showroom, showcasing different mosaic patterns and styles, so ancient DIY-ers could take their pick and decide on the best flooring to complement their goatskin hammocks and carved stone bedsides.
Sepphoris is also rumoured to be the birthplace of Anne, Mary’s mother, and for this reason has attracted countless Catholic pilgrims to marvel at its splendour in years gone by. Fadi led his red-faced and sweaty followers up some steep stone steps into the house of Dionysus and told us to come inside for some cooling airconditioning. We thought he was kidding but no, it was true! What relief. It’s always great to see modern meeting ancient in practical ways. There was a stunning and intricate mosaic floor- made from individual naturally coloured stones - where people could eat, drink and be merry while reclining on pillows to ‘watch’ the action-packed mosaic (a precursor to tv).
Driving through the modern bustling town of Nazareth, Fadi pointed out (well you really couldn’t miss it) the big walled church in the centre of town. He told us this used to take up three quarters of the old town. Hard to believe now with the population booming and the urban sprawl stretching far beyond its former borders. Much of downtown Nazareth seemed a bit tired and worn, with garish, gold-lettered takeaway joints and fast fashion dress shops. We’ve been told to dress conservatively here - covered knees and shoulders; nothing too risqué - yet billboards and shop windows are chock-full of skimpy little outfits with and lingerie; a whole lot more on display that the odd knee or shoulder. Maybe it’s strictly for around the house, reclining with a glass of wine and a mosaic or two?
Moses, our faithful bus driver, took us to the lofty perch of Mt Precipice next, where we “ooh-ed”and “ahh-ed’, blown away by the stunning panoramic views for miles around. You could see from the Jezreel Valley to Mount Tabor to Megiddo and the Sea of Galilee. Reportedly this mountaintop lookout was the spot where some angry Pharisees had plotted to push Jesus off the cliff. Just as well he was able to lose them and escape, it was a l-o-n-g way down!
Fadi’s index finger was getting a good workout as he pointed to all the places where events in the Bible took place: “this is the valley where Gideon’s men fought the Middianites; over here is where the transfiguration took place, just over that hill is where the widow’s son was revived… it was so cool.
Deb had barely had time to down her freshly-squeezed pomegranate juice before we’d arrived at the Nazareth Village, greeted by wait staff in traditional costumes from biblical times, ready to serve us our traditional 1st century lunch. Or dirt floor room with billowy hessian canopy and long wooden tables was decorated with baskets and pots and was so authentic. We truly felt like we’d stepped back in time and thoroughly enjoyed our hearty lunch of earthy lentil soup, hommous, cucumber yoghurt and still-warm flat bread, charred from the wood-fired oven - so scrumptious. Our main course (yep, still going) was the most juicy and deliciously moist chicken thigh on the bone, rubbed with middle eastern spices and crispy skinned. So yummy!
Nazareth Village was more than a restaurant, it was Israel’s answer to Old Sydney Town; a working village from biblical times, where we met and chatted to a sheep farmer, a winemaker, a potter, a wood worker and some clever women spinning wool and weaving. We got to see a working olive press and sit in a little synagogue. So educational and again, bringing the bible to life. Our guide was named Ariel (but he looked a lot more like Guy Sebastien than a red-headed, singing mermaid) and he was a veritable fount of information. This place was well worth a visit.
During the course of the day, Denise realised she’d misplaced her prescription glasses and retracing her steps, thought she may have left them at Magdala. It was a long shot but driver Moses dropped in on our way back so she could see if they were there. We all prayed she’d find them and after a quick comb of the area, she came back to the bus with her glasses in hand - our little miracle of Galilee.
We have started to run out of clean clothes and so thought we’d enquire at our hotel reception about availing ourselves of the laundry service. Molly and I had fun trying to slot all our clothes into their correct categories. With some pants that didn’t really qualify as ‘trousers’, we decided to pass them off as ‘long underwear’ and had to create our own categories for our cosies and bras (does no-one wear bras in Israel?) “Vests” and “Vests with Sleeves” had us scratching our heads and we loved the “Skrts” but the most perplexing category of all was the “Tow-Piece Dress”. Too funny.
In today’s instalment of “Funny Foreign Toilets”, as I stood up ready to flush, I made the monumental mistake of turning the random tap that is just positioned, with no explanation, in the middle of the wall next to the toilet. I don’t really know what I was thinking it would do - there was already a flush button - but I turned it nonetheless, resulting in a surprise soaking, when it shot an enthusiastic stream of water from the top of the toilet bowl to hit me in the head. If only I’d been seated on the throne at the time, who knows, I might’ve enjoyed it.
Tonight before dinner, Debbie, Molly and Maisy joined lots of our crew for a magical sunset dip in the Sea of Galilee. There were a few failed attempts to walk on water and a lengthy soak in the sea was followed by another dip in the pool. The moon was casting a silvery beam on the swimmers and the pale pink glow of the sun retiring for the day, clothed the mountain backdrop, making it a pretty memorable moment indeed.
